Above: Jose Barahona and Hap Jacobs trying to match the blue of a Hap Jacobs surfboard to reproduce it.

So, Mecca Studio is in California doing some sort of thing with surfboards, right?

After winning the Special Mention at Open Design Italia 2016, Mecca Studio went on hiatus with our surfboard project to leave room for education. This hiatus was painful, because of some things that were happening around us while we were on hold. This hiatus was needed, because it gave us the confidence and the drive to go on and put all the things we had learnt during previous years in use. That's why we went back to our surfboard project and started reasoning on it again.

That's why we are in California.

We are not surfers. We are not shapers. We are not experts. And that's perfectly fine with us. Our strength was in realising a lack of knowledge, in the understanding of such a multifaceted and complex world and in the will of going back to the roots of it. We are here to learn from the same people who put surfing on the map, who started and innovated this art during the years. For the history of surfing, for the performance and speed of shortboards and the style and fun of longboards. For the legends, the locals, the travellers. We are here because we don't want to make up stories. We want to tell them.

In the weeks to come we will try and show you our journey through photos and videos, words and surfboards. We can't wait to share with you the things we are constantly learning and most importantly we are really excited to see what all of this will lead to. Thank you very much for the support and keep watching out for updates.